Never Can Say Goodbye
by waterpoloplayer
Summary: After the war with Gaea, Jason chose Reyna, and Piper is hurt. Luckily, Annabeth  who finally got her college acceptance letter  is there to comfort her. Mentions: Percabeth, Lukabeth, Jiper, Jenya, Annabeth/Michael, Annabeth/Travis. Oneshot


**A/N Hello! So, this is heavily based off the Rachel/Quinn scene from the "Micheal" episode of Glee. I just thought that this would fit with them. I don't own anything here! Hope you like it!**

Piper walked around camp, a frown on her face. They had just defeated Gaea and after a long time of thinking, Jason had chosen to be with Reyna.

_"Look… Piper…" she remembered him saying, a look of sincerity and pain on his face. "I loved Reyna before I even knew you. It isn't fair. What I felt for you... It was true, but it's just not fair and you know it."_

And she did. She didn't hate him or Reyna. She wasn't forming any evil plot to take Jason back. And she sure as Hades wasn't going to tie a boulder to her ankle and jump into the lake. She still had friends and family and lots of other things that made her happy. Jason was still her best friend, and Reyna wasn't jealous of them, and that made Piper feel trusted and loved.

But that wasn't going to stop the fact that it hurt. It hurt that Jason chose Reyna over her. It hurt that Piper was going to have to smile through everything that happened.

In retrospect, compared to Annabeth, she had the _much_ better end of the stick.

During the war, Percy gave himself up to save Annabeth at the Doors of Death. They hadn't been able to spend much time with each other and they hadn't even been able to have their romantic meeting. Annabeth locked herself in a spare room in the Big House and cried for days.

The whole scenario was quite heartbreaking, to say the least.

But still, that didn't stop Piper from walking to the Athena cabin to talk to Annabeth, who had taken the role of Piper's mother these past months.

"Annabeth?" she whispered, opening the door a crack to see Annabeth frantically packing. She stepped in and closed the door behind her. "What are you doing…?"

The blonde daughter of Athena stopped in her tracks, turned, and Piper watched as a genuine smile graced her face. "Hi Piper," she said, sitting on her bunk and patting the seat next to her. Piper sat down. "What brings you here?"

Piper sighed and looked at Annabeth. Her grey eyes seemed so kind, so full of compassion, that Piper just started to pour out all of the feelings she had kept bottled in. Annabeth held her as she talked, stroking her hair and shushing her softly. She even wiped the daughter of Aphrodite's tears when needed.

"It's just not fair!" Piper finished, taking a deep, shaky breath. Annabeth frowned and stood up, walking to her desk. Without saying a word, she walked back with a tri-folded paper in her hand.

"What's that?" the brunette asked, as she gently opened the paper.

"Read it," Annabeth ordered and Piper nodded.

_Miss. Annabeth Chase,_

_ We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Harvard University. Your sample architectural designs on the Greek and Roman worship temples were far above anything we have seen in years. We will give you a full ride scholarship including on-campus housing…_

Piper looked at a beaming Annabeth. "You mean…?" Annabeth nodded and Piper shot up like a rocket to hug her. "Congrats, Annabeth! This is… This is amazing! But what does this have to do with Jason?"

Annabeth laughed softly. It was obvious that Piper felt bad at how selfish that came across. "This is my ticket out of here," she whispered. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning to spend two weeks with my family, and then for the next eight years, I'll be at Harvard getting my doctorate in architecture.

"Apparently, the staff board though my essay on being a child with an unsupportive family, ADHD, dyslexia, and still maintaining a 4.0 average was touching and inspiring.

Piper nodded, a fake smile on her face. She was honestly happy for Annabeth. Everybody who knew Annabeth knew that she wanted to be an architect, and this was going to make it for her. Piper still wasn't sure what this meant for her, though.

"My point being," Annabeth continued, sensing Piper's patience wearing thin, "Is that in all my years of being at camp, I've had quite a few crushes- Travis Stoll, Michael Yew, Luke… We can't forget Percy." She laughed bitterly, a pool of tears springing at her eyes just threatening to overflow. Piper frowned in sympathy even though she knew that Annabeth didn't want it. "I even loved some of them. With Percy, I thought we would live happily ever after. But when the snow hits in Cambridge, I'm honestly not going to know why."

Piper looked at her, hurt. "So… A-are you saying that you don't believe in love? That Percy's death didn't matter?"

Ever since she got claimed, Piper had recognized the importance of love. It made people to things they would have never expected themselves to do. It was the most powerful thing in the world, and it could be used as a weapon if needed. If anybody should know about that, it was Annabeth. And as horrible as she sounded, she was just trying to make a point.

"I'm all for making the most of what you have," Annabeth hissed, putting her letter back to it's safe spot. She didn't want to come off as angry, but that comment was low. _Think rationally_, she reminded herself, _She's hurting just like you are_. "I would hate the idea of dragging an anchor from my past into the bright lights of my future."

Kaleidoscope eyes met stormy grey, both on the verge of tears. "That's a horrible thing to say," Piper muttered and Annabeth sighed in exasperation.

"It's true, though. Women are finding who they truly are in their forties or thirties! Studies show that you fall in love at least twice before finding the one you'll get married to. Let's face it, times are changing, and love isn't the most important thing anymore." Annabeth shrugged and went back to packing, but still listened.

"It always is and always will be!" Piper argued. "Why don't you see that?"

The blonde sighed. "I guess… I guess at one point it made sense to love somebody for your entire life, but it doesn't anymore. Not with wars and demigod stuff we have to deal with."

Piper crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "So you're saying that I should never fall in love?"

Annabeth turned towards the smaller girl, who was dancing on her last nerve. She was already stressed enough as it was.

"Look, Piper… You and Jason made a lovely couple. You and whoever you end up finding to be 'the one' will make and even lovelier couple. All I'm saying is that you should wait a little and focus on your future before you do anything else. If you want to get anything good in life, you need to learn how to say goodbye."

With that, Annabeth walked out of the cabin to go to the dining hall.

* * *

><p>That night during dinner, Chiron stomped his hoof and the entire camp went silent. "We have," he started, "Some very exciting news. Annabeth?" He smiled to her and she walked up to the front with him.<p>

It was silent. Chiron nudged her. "Go ahead, dear. Tell them."

She stayed silent for a little before her face broke out in a grin- the biggest she'd wore since the day she got dumped in the lake with Percy. "I got into Harvard," she blurted and everybody started cheering.

"You know, Annabeth," Chiron said, putting a fatherly arm around her, "After all you've been through, you deserve this."

Annabeth grinned up at him then looked at the camp. "And I want to thank you guys. Every single one of you. You guys have stuck with me through all the drama and tears and… Well, everything. I wouldn't be standing here today without you guys." She started getting teary-eyed, and more than a handful of people noticed that she was looking pointedly at Piper during most of her speech.

"I've wasted a lot of my time just hating myself and my loved ones for stupid mistakes, but the truth is, if it weren't for those, I wouldn't have even imagined getting this far in life." By now, she was looking Piper in the eyes. "You can't change your past. But you can let go and start your future. When I leave tomorrow on the four o'clock plane, I know that I will cry because I'm leaving such a big part of me behind here."

It was silent for a few moments until Grover got up and gave her a big hug, which started getting other people to get up and congratulate her. Pretty soon, everybody (given the exception of Piper) was up.

Annabeth pushed her way through the crowd and went to Piper. Piper looked up and gave a half smile. "Keep in touch with me?" Annabeth asked. "I'm always here if you need advice."

Piper nodded, and her smile grew a little. "Yeah... I will. Congrats again, Annabeth. You deserve this."

The blonde beamed. "And you deserve all the love that's coming to you, Piper. You really do."

Piper stood up and embraced Annabeth in a warm hug.

Annabeth hugged back after the initial shock wore off. "Stay safe, ok? If I ever get time to visit, I want to be able to see you in one piece."

Piper nodded. "And don't forget me? Or camp?"

Annabeth laughed and looked around. "That reminds me…"

She walked back to the front and stood on the table. "Hey guys!" she called and everybody went silent. She had their undivided attention.

Annabeth soaked in everybody's faces, tears falling down her cheeks. She knew that this could very well be the last time she saw any these people, and it broke her heart. "I just… I want you all know that… Well, my flight tomorrow leaves at four a.m. and I can guarantee that on the plane, I'll be crying. I may never see any of you again, and you all have helped me in so many ways. So before I go, I just want you all to know that I love you- All of you."

She chuckled softly. "I'm always telling people that they need to let go and say goodbye because it doesn't matter but…" She looked around camp and let herself start to silently cry. She didn't care who was watching, because she knew that the people she was crying over didn't have dry eyes, either.

"With this place and all of you… I'll never be able to say goodbye."

**There we go! I hope you guys liked it! Sorry I had to kill off Percy, it just went with the story. Review please? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Tell me, please! Thank you(:**


End file.
